Death and destruction in service delivery protest

The KFC outlet that was set alight during a service delivery protest in Soweto yesterday.
Photo: eNCA/Tshepo Lesole

One man has been killed and a KFC outlet burnt to the ground during violent service delivery protests at the Elias Motsoaledi informal settlement in Soweto.

The enraged community have blamed the police for the death of the unidentified man on Sunday night.

The SAPS have denied that the man became a casualty when the public order policing unit was dispatched after a KFC franchise was burnt resulting in the arrest of 17 people.

Police say the death of the man was unrelated to the running street battles with the angry protestors.

Police say the man was allegedly stabbed.

The community are demonstrating to highlight their dissatisfaction on housing in the area and the lack of electricity supply.

Johannes Latedisa, community spokesperson for the Elias Motsoaledi settlement, near Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, believes the police could have killed him during one of the raids carried out on Sunday night.

“No one was allowed to go near the body. The police stood around him and threatened to arrest anyone who went close," Latedisa said.

Latedisa continued: "After pushing everyone away from that scene, it took them no more than 30 minutes for the body to be taken by the pathology van, it was too quick for anyone who might have known him to identify his body.”

Attempts to reach the DiepKloof police station about details of the incident were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, managers at the KFC that was torched during the unrest, stood outside the property for the better part of the morning assessing the damage.

Latedisa denied that community members had anything to do with burning the outlet, saying these motives were "purely criminal".

Some in the community claimed management at the KFC did not want to hire people from the Elias Motsoaledi informal settlement.

They claimed that this was the reason the outlet was set alight.

On Monday afternoon, the community was preparing to march to the Diepkloof police station to demand that those arrested on Sunday, were released.